And his story of his maker, António Cuco, is as authentic as he is. During a period of unemployment and thanks to an incredible capacity for entrepreneurship, António Cuco went from a simple drinker of Gin to a true “alchemist of Flavors”, being able to create an emblematic brand and recognized Internationally.

As an inspiration, António Cuco was recovering smells and flavors from his childhood, such as the Apple Bravo of Esmolfe, which his great-grandmother gave him to eat at the fair of Borba, and Lucia-Lima, an aroma that reminded him of the tea that the grandmother of S. Manços prepared at lunchtime. To these memories joined the botanists, citrus and other ingredients, all of their land, to get to the final formula of their Gin Sharish.

Along the way, and with a great thirst for knowledge, he read over 400 texts and newspaper articles. He learned all alone about the various types of gin, which botanicals used, distillation methods, alcohol base. And he cracked secrets. As he did not have a alembic, he altered a pressure cooker to distil his first gin. Today, this pressure cooker that saw the birth of the original Gin Sharish is on display at the Gin Interpretive Center in the distillery in Monsaraz.

The Sharish Gin, whose original recipe remains unchanged, has gone from a homemade beverage, made to offer only a few friends, for a premium quality drink recognized and a distillery with 1,400 m2 and a turnover that amounts to €1,300,000.00 ( 2018). It is in the Sharish Gin distillery that there is the first and only interpretation center of the Gin of the Iberian Peninsula, where in a space and only one year have passed more than 6,000 people. Sharish is an expanding brand that prepares for the future.